Against Celsus, Book II · §31 · Origen of Alexandria

The Word who took a body

After this he charges Christians with playing the sophist when they say that the Son of God is the very Word. He thinks he makes the charge stronger because, while we profess that the Son of God is Word, what we present is not a pure and holy Word but a man led away in utter dishonour and put to death. On this too something was said above, in brief, against Celsus’s accusations. There it was shown that the “firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15) took up a body and a human soul; that God gave the command concerning so many great things in the world, and they were created (Psalm 148:5); and that the one who received the command was God the Word.

And since the one who says these things in Celsus is a Jew, it will not be out of place for us to use the words, “He sent out his word and healed them, and rescued them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:20), which we also mentioned above. Yet I have conversed with many Jews, even men who professed to be wise, and I have heard none of them approve the teaching that the Son of God is Word, as Celsus has claimed when he fastens this onto the character of his Jew, who says: “If the Word is your Son of God, we too approve.”

Greek

Μετὰ ταῦτα Χριστιανοῖς ἐγκαλεῖ ὡς σοφιζομένοις ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι αὐτολόγον, καὶ οἴεταί γε κρατύνειν τὸ ἔγκλημα, ἐπεὶ λόγον ἐπαγγελλόμενοι υἱὸν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποδείκνυμεν οὐ λόγον καθαρὸν καὶ ἅγιον ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπον ἀτιμότατα ἀπαχθέντα καὶ ἀποτυμπανισθέντα. καὶ περὶ τούτου δ᾿ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατηγορίας εἴρηται· ἐν οἷς ἀπεδείκνυτο ὁ „πάσης κτίσεως“ „πρωτότοκος“ ἀνειληφὼς σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο περὶ τῶν τοσούτων ἐν κόσμῳ, καὶ ἐκτίσθη. καὶ ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἐντολὴν λαβὼν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἦν. καὶ ἐπεὶ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ταῦτα λέγων, οὐκ ἀτόπως χρησόμεθα τῷ· „ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν“· ου καὶ ἀνωτέρω ἐμνήσθημεν. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πολλοῖς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ σοφοῖς γε ἐπαγγελλομένοις εἶναι συμβαλὼν οὐδενὸς ἀκήκοα ἐπαινοῦντος τὸ λόγον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος εἴρηκε, καὶ τοῦτο περιάπτων τῷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσώπῳ λέγοντος· ὡς εἴ γε ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν ὑμῖν υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπαινοῦμεν.

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About this text

Origen answers the Jew whom Celsus brings on stage to speak against the Jews who believe in Jesus, and shows that they have not left the law of their fathers. He goes on to defend Jesus’ foreknowledge of his betrayal, the reality of his suffering and death, and his resurrection, and argues that no mere man could have won so much of the world.

Base text: Koetschau, GCS 2–3 (1899), via the Perseus digital text. The English is a fresh translation from that Greek, chapter by chapter (2.1–79), with an independent clause-by-clause review against the Greek. Crombie and Chadwick were not used.

Printed text used

Translated from Koetschau GCS 2 – 3 (1899) — Greek (Greek · Book II, chapters 1 – 79)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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